San Jose Estate Law Blog

In all likelihood, you have some pretty specific ideas about the type of medical care and treatment you want and do not want at the end of your life. But who will carry out your wishes when the time comes if you are too ill or incapacitated to make your wishes known? This is where a California living will can serve you well.

As FindLaw explains, your living will is considerably different than a “normal” will. In your regular will you specify who you want to receive your various pieces of property when you die. In your living will, however, you specify what types of medical care and treatments you want and do not want when your life comes to an end.

Experts counsel people both in San Jose and throughout the rest of the U.S. to see to their estate planning early on in their adult lives. Yet even so, many American adults do not have a will. What happens, then, if you have a family member dies without ever preparing one? In such a case, their estate becomes subject to intestate succession. "Intestate" is the word applied to cases where one dies without a will, and the terms regarding how their estate will be dispersed are set forth by the state. 

California's guidelines regarding intestate succession can be found in Sections 6400-6414 of the state's Probate Code. Here it states that if the decedent was your spouse, you are entitled automatically entitled to one-half of the community and quasi-community property the two of you shared. Your deceased spouse's portion of that property would then be included in their separate property. you would also be entitled to the full amount of that separate property if your spouse has no surviving issue (direct descendants), parents or siblings. If they have one surviving descendant, parent or sibling, you would then receive one-half of their separate property, while the other half would go to that party. Your share of the separate property would lower to one-third if they have multiple surviving issue or direct family relations. 

Challenging the validity of a will is not an action to take lightly. The process will likely be emotional, expensive and difficult to win. However, challenging the validity of a will can be the most appropriate action in certain circumstances, and can result in part or all of a will being invalidated.

Fraud, forgery and undue influence

You shouldn't procrastinate when it comes to planning your estate. However, the process can seem long and protracted when you get into your estate lawyer's office and face a bevy of questions. Sometimes, it can even feel like these questions are doing nothing more than keeping you from writing your will, but this interrogation has a purpose. And if you try to skip this process, your beneficiaries could be the ones to pay the price.